


Twenty Nine

by EstelleDusk



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Don't copy to another site, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-30 18:24:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21432697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EstelleDusk/pseuds/EstelleDusk
Summary: She thought they would only need his musical prowess to save the day
Relationships: Ladybug & Viperion, ladybug & chat noir
Comments: 7
Kudos: 195





	Twenty Nine

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Of Patience and Pettiness](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20297569) by [BelleAmant](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BelleAmant/pseuds/BelleAmant). 

> This is inspired by Chapter 18 of the fic linked, if you haven't read the fic, I tried to keep as many spoilers out of this as possible, but the very fact it exists is technically a spoiler for that fic

“I’m not sure how much we’ll need your Second Chance, but if you use it, we’ll only have five minutes before the timer ends and you detransform. So make sure that you keep an eye on that bangle.”

“Got it. Want me to go distract him with the lyre, see if he calms?” In that instant that Ladybug looked at the Akuma, Viperion swiped at his bangle, “Second Chance.”

She didn’t seem to notice, perhaps it was for the best. She had seemed so hopeful that they wouldn’t need that ability. But Viperion didn’t want to risk it. They had the tool, so he’ll use it.

— 1

“You got _ another _ guy? Buginette, when I said not to grab Artic, I didn’t mean that you should find some other guy! What about Queen Bee, or some other girl?” It’s obvious that Chat’s upset, but his words still make Viperion pause. He had never thought about it before, but was Chat always this jealous?

His song was all wrong, only becoming worse once Hothead slapped him. 

It was calm for now, Hothead was talking to Ladybug, Chat Noir was still getting back on two feet.

Viperion stood behind Ladybug, Chat Noir to his back. He kept his lyre in hand, chiming in when he could to try and calm the Akuma down.

Then he heard a growl and an angry grumble that gave him a terrible feeling. He sidestepped and instantly regretted it as he saw Chat’s glowing claws connecting with an unsuspecting Ladybug.

“My lady!”

“Ladybug! Second Chance!” The last thing Viperion saw before time reset, was Chat Noir’s fiery hair returning to normal.

— 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

While it was good to know that people can break out of Hothead’s influence, that was a terrible way to learn.

Viperion knew what to do now. He came far enough back that he can try to prevent Chat Noir from getting slapped. He started playing his lyre immediately, drawing Hothead’s attention away from the cat. Barely in time to avoid the slap.

But also drawing Chat’s angry attention.

“Are you seriously trying to serenade me to calm down? This isn’t Harry Potter and I’m not some three-headed dog!”

“Bugaboo! We don’t need some musician to help us, we can do this together!”

There wasn’t anything particularly bad with that timeline, Viperion just ran out of time. He tried that four more times, each time not managing to distract both hot-headed supers long enough.

At least he knew one chord of time that didn’t end in death?

It gave him hope that that first time had just been a fluke. Chat must have been trying to get at Hothead and misstepped.

He waited until the last second before calling on Sass’s power.

— 7

He tried the first approach again, being very careful not to keep his back to Chat Noir once he was under Hothead’s influence again. Instead, he stood on Hothead’s other side, effectively boxing the Akuma in while Ladybug tried to talk him down.

He kept quiet, watching Chat, and seeing the exact moment Cataclysm was activated.

Viperion jerked his head, trying to gesture to Ladybug to move. She seemed to get the picture and stepped to the side as Viperion grabbed the attention of Hothead. If the Akuma saw the attack coming, they’d never stop him.

He simply hadn’t accounted for Chat to run past and straight for himself.

“We don’t need you, Rip-erion!”

Oh.

— 8

“Stop staring at My Lady! You’ll never have her, she’s mine!”

— 9, 10, 11, 12

She kept getting hit by accident.

Viperion would dodge and something around them would get cataclysmed instead, and then Ladybug would get badly hurt.

It wasn’t Chat’s fault, he was possessed.

But Viperion was really tired of Ladybug’s song getting interrupted by pain. 

What if he stopped Chat from tackling at all?

— 13

Viperion was pinned by an angry Chat Noir with Cataclysm in hand.

And Hothead had Ladybug on the run.

This was definitely one of the worst chords of time, but it still wasn’t as bad as Ladybug dying.

At least, he thought that before he heard a soft, almost familiar gasp. Both heroes turned to look at Hothead and Ladybug. Just in time for her costume and kwami to fall.

Hothead crowed at his victory.

“My… lady?” Chat’s grip on Viperion loosened, but still not enough for him to reach his bangle and restart the timeline. The shock on the black cat’s face was obvious. And Viperion saw when Chat Noir’s anger came back, directed at a new target.

“Mari..._ nette! _” Chat growled, hitting Viperion’s head before he ran to attack.

Viperion managed to swipe at his bangle before Chat Noir touched Marinette with Cataclysm.

But her face as her best friend betrayed her was burned into his mind.

— 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 

He’ll admit he was distracted after that. 

Ladybug was Marinette.

It explained so much, including how similar their songs were. No wonder Marinette was so strong. No wonder she was so helpful. So caring. So beautiful inside and out.

It just made sense now and he couldn't understand how he didn’t see it before. Maybe it was one of those magic effects she mentioned.

But his distraction was causing them to lose.

He wanted to protect her more than before, now knowing who was behind the mask. Luka was not needed right now, Viperion was. And he had to protect Paris.

He just needed to figure out what to do.

He needed to solve this problem quickly.

But Chat kept distracting him, getting in his way.

He needed to… he needed to _ stay away _ from Chat!

That’s it! 

Viperion smiled for the first time since this started and wiped at his bangle.

— 27

He just needed to be a little closer, just needed to play the right song.

— 28

Something from Jagged had worked before, it should work again.

And no matter how much it pained him, he would have to focus on Hothead instead of Chat Noir.

He needed to trust Marinette would protect herself.

She would be fine as long as Viperion didn’t get between her and her longtime partner.

Whatever beef Chat had with Ladybug, with Marinette, they could talk it over they were safe.

Once Chat wasn’t influenced anymore.

She could have her best friend back then.

— 29

He almost had it, just a few seconds earlier.

Sass, please, help him.

_ Save her _.

— 30

“You never used Second Chance.”

“But I did. I used it at the beginning.” Luka smiled, trying to not let his sadness show. Trying not to let on just what happened. 

He was so glad he chose to use it. He doesn’t even need to imagine what would happen if he hadn’t, he knew _ exactly _ what the bad ends were.

“How long did it take?” Oh, she could tell. Luka tried harder to keep his emotions in check.

“We took thirty tries before I could reach the object before Chat—” _ killed Marinette again _. Luka couldn’t help it, he frowned. He didn’t want to worry her, she already had so much on her plate. But…

“Ladybug, you should talk to Chat Noir about staying out of the way of Akumas that can possess people.”

Ten times he watched Chat Noir directly use Cataclysm on Ladybug.

One time he watched Chat Noir directly use Cataclysm on Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Eight times Viperion watched Chat Noir use Cataclysm to indirectly kill or harm her some other way.

Ten times Chat tried to harm him.

Overall, twenty-nine times Chat used Cataclysm inappropriately


End file.
